Industrial SCADA Systems and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs)

PLC (programmable logic controller) hardware and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) software that provide automated control, monitoring, and data collection for industrial and utility operations: electrical substations, water/wastewater treatment, oil & gas pipelines, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure. Major PLC/SCADA vendors: Schneider Electric (Modicon), Siemens (SIMATIC), Rockwell Automation (Allen-Bradley), ABB (800xA), Emerson (DeltaV). Modicon was the original commercial PLC (1968, Digital Equipment Corp. then Gould then Schneider). ICS cybersecurity incidents (Stuxnet, TRITON/TRISIS, Industroyer) target PLC and SCADA systems as the control layer for physical infrastructure.